The House of Sleeping Fire
by Illusion of Insanity
Summary: His broken eyes couldn't tear away from that terrible house in Viridian City. The small figure at his side was ignored as the looming monster stood above him. Everything had begun in this one house. He was born here, brought up to age and then tossed aside in front of these black gates. He never thought he would come back here, but somehow, he had.


His legs felt like they were made of stone.

His broken eyes couldn't tear away from that terrible house in Viridian City. The small figure at his side was ignored as the looming monster stood above him. Everything had begun in this one house. He was born here, brought up to age and then tossed aside in front of these black gates. He never thought he would come back here, but somehow, he had.

It was almost like he could hear their voices, screaming and crying as his legs finally moved. Instead of running away, however, he found himself walking up to the front door with rigid steps. His hand froze on that doorknob, that last barrier between him and the past. He didn't even know what he was doing, the door opened before he could think twice.

* * *

><p><em>"Stop him!" The pounding of footsteps raced through the halls, heading straight for the boy with red hair."Giovanni must be stopped!" Another voice rose above the clamor with a mighty yell that proved to haunt the child in his sleep. "It's time to bring Giovanni Lupo to justice!"<em>

_The little boy didn't understand what was happening. He was simply playing with his best friend Sneasel at the foot of his father's favorite chair when the voices came. All he knew is that these men were after his father. His poor self was unable to feel fear, just the mystery behind their wish to see his father._

_The man in the claw-footed chair spoke no words. He simply sat beside his son and waited for the group to find them. Suddenly, the grand doors of imported Sinnoh pine were destroyed by an Arcanine's flames. The fire danced in the boy's eyes before the flames revealed three tall figures._

_One of the figures was simply put, a woman. She was a woman with searching eyes and long brown hair that reached her shoulders. She was wearing the same as the rest of the intruders, a long brown trench-coat that covered their bodies right down their knees. Her hands were filled with two Pokéballs, clutched so tight that her knuckles had turned white._

_Beside her, a man with harsh eyes of grey and much darker hair stood tall, a hand on his exposed belt of Pokéballs and the other on top of the Arcanine's head. The Pokémon responsible seemed to be under his command, for the beast reached up to touch the hand._

_"It's over, Giovanni." The one figure without a partner, a man with black hair, stepped forwards with narrowed eyes. "It's time to pay for your sins. Come quietly and we'll have no reason to harm you or any of your family." The man's red eyes lingered on the boy, as if he was reluctant to speak in such powerful tones in front of the young boy._

_"Ah, it seems that you've found me." The man only placed a hand on his son's vibrant locks and stared down at the three individuals. "Well, I guess this is what happens when you hire such incompetent fools to guard your summer home." He paused to take in the leading man._

_"Although, Mr. Cinis, I must admit that you and your little friends have come here a bit sooner than expected." The man, Mr. Cinis, let out a small growl and dug his heel into the crimson carpet. "If I had known that you were paying a visit, I would have told my son to play in his room instead."_

_"Save it, Lupo." The man with dark brown hair stepped forward, and his hair seemed to ignite under the bright lights of this room of golden walls. "No amount of smooth-talking will let you escape," He stopped for a moment as the woman behind him narrowed her verdant eyes with tears. "Not after what you've done."_

_His father held a hand incredulously up to his chest with a small gasp. He then clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Ah, as impatient and rude as always, Mr. Oak." The redheaded child pulled his guardian, a young Sneasel, to his chest with wide eyes, suddenly feeling the fear his systems had withheld from him earlier. "It's a shame that after ten years, you still cannot wait your turn."_

_"Silence, Lupo!" The woman dashed forward, ahead of the two men, and stopped just inches from the claw-footed chair. Her left hand released its weapon, and the Pokéball revealed a short Grass Type with two red flowers on its head. "You're going to pay," She stopped for a moment before shaking her head and growling, just as Mr. Cinis had. "No," She lifted her head to reveal a flame in her eyes that sent a shiver down the boy's spine. "You'll _perish_ after what you did to her!"_

_A laugh escaped the man's lips as his son simply watched on with terrified eyes. "Dearest Rose, it seems you are still as blunt as your husband." His hand lifted from his son's head and dropped to the right arm of his chair. "Can't we have a quick chat first?"_

_"Never, you dirty murderer!" Mr. Cinis jumped beside the other man with the intent to hold his partners back. "You're a waste of breath!"_

_Giovanni ignored them. He simply weaved his fingers together and smiled at his 'guests'. "So, Mr. and Mrs. Oak. Tell me," The two brunettes glared at the man and his grin. "How are your children doing?" The woman seemed to be holding back as the Pokémon at her feet looked up at her Trainer with pain-filled eyes. "Daisy just turned four, didn't she?"_

_A gasp escaped the woman as the precious daughter she had left at home suddenly was brought to the table by the man. This subject, cleverly guarded, was discovered by this terrible man, leaving their most prized possession in harm's way._

_"And let's see..." Black hair was slicked back as Giovanni seemed to think for a moment. "The two boys, Red and Green...they are the same age, correct?" A stillness enveloped the room as the parents stared down this monster before them. "Little boys are precious little things, are they not?"_

_"What are you toying at, Lupo?!" The man with chin-length black hair was losing his patience, and the boy at his father's side was getting ever so scared by these strange people. "You leave our kids out of this!"_

_He simply shrugged and looked to his son. "I was just saying, you three have quite a lot of nerve coming here and endangering my son." The Arcanine at Mr. Oak's side started to snarl, increasing the terror in the boy's blood. "I have half a mind to tell the officials about this."_

_"The police wouldn't help you, Giovanni—" The man with black hair was cut off by a long sigh and the man they were so furious with standing up._

_"However, seeing as you have invaded my home, I will deal with you myself." The boy's father pulled out a Pokéball of his own and hurled it at the three adults. The boy's eyes widened as he found a Rhydon standing tall in this lone room, his horn nearly scraping the high ceilings._

_"Bellossom! Use Petal Dance!" The woman called out an order before her husband had a chance to intervene. Her children were in danger, she knew that very well. She would be the first to attack._

_The small creature twirled and was surrounded by thousands of pink petals. The opposing Pokémon simply knocked it back and the poor Bellossom let out a cry of defeat. Green, red and grey eyes narrowed at the tower challenge._

_"I would go on," Giovanni Lupo grinned as the redheaded child sat on the sidelines in his blue Squirtle pajamas. "But it's getting awfully close to bedtime." He then lifted his right hand and spoke one word that would change the future forever._

_"Hyper Beam."_

_The blast of energy did not seem to be from a Pokémon. Instead, it seemed to be divine wrath released on innocents. The orange beam was nowhere near uniform. Instead being a single beam of charged energy, it was a blast of vibrant orange and red that consumed the exposed figures._

_Screams rang out as the boy sat, frozen. The orange danced in the air like the small Bug Types of the summer, glimmering and shivering in the waves of heat. It was as if the attack was fire, fueled with gasoline and amplified to its limits._

_The glow died away and left small dots racing around the boy's vision. In the wake of the attack, three bodies lay on the ground, motionless. The man that had once been Mr. Oak was crumpled on top of his wife, as if he had tried to protect her from the blast. Despite the effort, she was just as still as her husband._

_Suddenly, the man with black hair shivered on the floor. Giovanni simply recalled his Pokémon as the man let out a pained groan. He walked over carefully, stepping over a charred pile of grass and flowers and ignoring the tossed lump of unburnt fur._

_"Mr. Cinis," His voice was quiet, cold and calculating, devoid of any sympathies. "You should have never attacked the wolf in his den. You see," He kneeled down and grinned at the man as he looked up with bloody orbs. "When a pup is present, the father always makes sure to destroy all enemies."_

_Those powerful eyes, once filled with hate and anger, shut for good._

_The redhead sat there, motionless as the beast with orange fur rose to his paws. The man who he had known as his father watched with a lack of interest before rising to his own feet._

_"...Go ahead." The Pokémon glared at him as he simply waited. "Take them back home like a good little pet." He slowly turned to face the canine before looking back at the fallen man at his feet. "Be sure to hurry; I'm sure those poor boys are waiting for their parents to come home."_

_The Arcanine slowly, somberly lifted his beloved Trainers off of the ground and lifted them on his back with dead eyes. The man once known as Mr. Cinis was the last to be hauled up on the noble creature's back and the boy with red hair couldn't look away. The Pokémon paused and took the fallen Bellossom in his jaws and then faced the door._

_He took off with a billowing tail of white._

_The orange stained the boy's mind long after his father lifted him up and carried him out of the room, heading to the child's bedroom as to tuck the stiff redhead in for the night._

* * *

><p>Stiff hands rested on the lonesome bed with white sheets.<p>

He couldn't feel the once comforting threads below his palm, or smell the sweet scent of spring perfume and flowers. Instead, his palms felt calloused and worn, unable to feel anything. The scent of ash and dead firepits raced to his mind as he breathed in dust and stale air.

The Pokémon at his side felt miles away as dulled eyes looked around. Everything was in place, from the dark cherry shelves of books to his baby blue toybox filled with the prizes of an five-year-old. Just to check, he lifted the lid. Sure enough, a lonesome Sandshrew Pokédoll looked up at him with dark black eyes.

Everything was technically in place, and yet nothing felt right. Something big was missing, something far more important than a doll or an action figure.

* * *

><p><em>"Silver, there's something I want you to always remember." The young woman with long crimson hair stared down at her son from her high perch of white, her eyes drooping with exhaustion. The boy with matching hair looked up at stole a glance at the smooth cheeks that had only seemed to pale in the past few hours.<em>

_"What's that, Mommy?" His head tilted as the Sneasel beside him stood in a veil of silence. After the sights he had taken in that afternoon, of men with black uniforms and evil grins, his voice was quiet and nearly lost._

_"That you're not a Lupo." A thin hand rested on his head as a smile found a place on her lips. "You are a Innocent." Her strange accent, unknown to the boy, made the title transform into something resembling 'innocenté' adding a stray sound to the end of the song. "Never loose that, my dear."_

_"But Mommy," Confusion obscured the words and twisted in his mind. "I thought you said our name was Lupo." Green eyes narrowed in pain as the boy bit his lip. "Daddy's name is Lupo. Doesn't that make our name Lupo, too?"_

_"No, my darling." The hand ruffled those vibrant locks as her voice cracked for the slightest instant. "You and I...we are Innocents. We are not Lupos, we are Innocents. Please, understand this."_

_All the poor boy's mind could think was that his name was Silver Lupo, not Silver Innocent. He was _certainly_ not Silver Innocenté, as his mother seemed to be saying. But, because he loved his mother, he would try to be Silver Innocent instead of Silver Lupo._

_"Yes, Mommy." The hand lifted from his head and instead rested on her chest. "I'll remember." The light returned to his mother's eyes for a fraction of a second before it was stolen away by wet droplets. Tears slipped out of her eyes before she wiped them away with a sniffle, trying to obscure this small break._

_"Good boy. Mommy is so proud of you." The black creature at the boy's side let out a whimper as the scent of fear waved off of the redhead's mother. He knew something was very wrong, ever since the woman and the man with black eyes had yelled within their room the previous night. "Mommy will always be so proud of you."_

_It was the next day that the strong woman with red hair and green eyes disappeared. The boy woke to find her side of the bed empty and unwrinkled. The man he had called his father seemed to know nothing, insisting that she must have run away from home._

* * *

><p>Now, the blankets were folded and tucked on both sides, leaving not a trace of either occupant.<p>

The boy felt his chest being constricted and his breaths becoming shallow and racing, unable to find oxygen for his starved lungs. The Pokémon that had been staying at his side was hold his hand now, claws glimmering in the small beams of light that sneaked in through the boarded up the lofty windows.

Everything seemed to race in front of his eyes as he felt his knees give out from under him. His face crashed to the floor as the tears raced out of his eyes. The dust that pirouetted in air swirled before racing to cover him in a thin blanket. The Sneasel raced to his side and buried his way in to his chest, pressing against his Trainer and wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

Those shoulders soon shook with thick sobs as he felt the dam break. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't stand. He couldn't even think. His mind was racing at a thousand miles a minute and leaving him whirling in the dust as he tried to put everything back together.

* * *

><p><em>That girl was back.<em>

_At first, he was happy to see the girl with brown hair once again. However, from his hiding spot behind one of his father's prized statues, everything had soured. Instead of coming here and finding him once again, she had raced to his father and started screaming at the top of her lungs._

_She was seething over something, something that was only just now falling in to place. Words like 'Team Rocket', 'evil', 'crime', 'blood' and 'murderer' danced in his ears as those blue eyes became slits of fury. These words rang out above the silence and made his arms shake with fear, trying to hold him up as he hid on his hands and knees behind this pillar of stone._

_"It is time to pay for your sins, Giovanni!" The girl was not the one he had seen in the underground, or the one that had pulled him out from behind the potted plants in Silph Co. This girl was something like a human fire, burning through everything and waiting to devour the man on the pedestal. "You shall pay for all of the people and Pokémon you've hurt and killed over the years!"_

_The battle began in an instant and quickly escalated into a heated screaming match. Her Pokémon fought bravely and sent each and every one of his father's prized creatures back to where they came. It soon fell to Rhydon and a Charizard, the two towering Pokémon snarling and ready to take out their opponent._

_"Rhydon, Hyper Beam!"_

_Before the move could be executed, a dazzling flame swallowed the room. Orange, red and yellow swarmed his vision as he struggled to breathe. The Charizard's mouth was releasing a Flamethrower that hardly seemed to fit the standards, instead being a harsh beam of fire that spread and singed everything in its path._

_Fire reflected in his eyes as the girl stood tall. The man that he had once known bent over and covered his mouth and nose with his black suit jacket's sleeve. A cough ravaged his shoulders as he struggled through the smoke. The girl kept on yelling, but all sounds had been replaced with a harsh ringing that swallowed everything._

_The powerful beast of stone fell to the floor as the Flame Pokémon let out a proud roar. The redhead behind the statue could not breathe. All he could do was watch as the girl seemed to wait for the fire to swallow them whole._

_He soon blacked out and everything became a blur of terrifying orange and gold._

* * *

><p>Time seemed nonexistent as he laid there on that dust-coated floor.<p>

The ragged breaths that escaped his lungs were worthless, stalling time before he snapped. He had no idea why he had come, but he knew that he never should have come back. Everything overwhelmed him with memories that had been buried deep within his mind. These embers had reignited and become the raging fire that he feared more than anything else.

_"It's OK, Silver. Everything's going to be OK."_ The beloved partner at his throat was muttering those words again, those words that his memories had blotted out. _"Don't cry. Don't be afraid. I'm right here." _Those words had once been his world, but now all he could do was cry.

The sound of footsteps sent shockwaves of horror through his body. Somewhere in his mind, he feared that it was the man with black hair and soulless eyes, back to take him away and to start his reign of terror over again. The creature that held him close didn't seem to notice, and that made him all the more scared.

A hand dropped on his side and made him jolt. He curled up tightly around his Sneasel, trying to hide from him. Instead of grabbing him, the hand slowly snaked down under his arms and was shortly aided by a second one. Then, before he could breathe another empty breath, he was pulled upwards and held tight by someone who was _not_ his father.

Brown locks slipped down from her shoulders and slipped in to his own red hair as the hot breath tickled the top of his head. His heart, racing from panic, tried to find a steady rhythm as the arms that held him captive lowered slightly as to rest their hands on his stomach and then tightened to hold him to their chest.

Sneasel released the boy with a broken smile as he clearly saw the girl who grabbed his Trainer. The familiar sight of a heart-shaped scar on the back of her left hand gave it away for him, even taking away her familiar scent and the cautious smile that adorned her face. He took a sharp breath before burying his face into the worn black jacket and wrapping his arms around the girl's arms.

"It's OK, Silver." The girl's voice rang out as he fought to breath properly. The frantic rise and fall of his sides made their embraces seem to strangle him, even when he knew better. "It's going to be OK. We're right here." She slowly released the boy, forcing the Sharp Claw Pokémon to do the same.

The boy turned to find his rival staring at him with wet eyes. The pounding of his heart obscured his loud gasps for air as she rested her forehead against him own. "It's OK." The words were repeated once again as her hands slipped to his shoulders before giving him yet another hug. "We're right here."

Tears slipped down his cheeks as he lost control for a broken second. His face slipped from hers and straight to her shoulder as he just grabbed her, unable to hold it. She didn't move, she simply let him have the long needed release and stain her red shirt with dark blotches.

He wasn't exactly sure how she got there, but he was happy she came.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: It seems whenever I don't feel well or I have a bad day, I write angst. Well, it sort of makes sense. I'll write more fluff to take care of this, but for now, enjoy this sour piece I put together this evening.<em>

_Basically, this is a trip down nightmare lane for Silver. We see some of the key moments of his past and some of the things that he carries within himself, things that have broken something inside of him. A reoccurring theme is fire. Simple reason behind that is that Silver fears fire. Probably he dislikes it from these flashbacks, being the first one with Rhydon and the last one with Charizard. Those moments really messed him up._

_Oh and those three adults at the beginning? Those are Mr. and Mrs. Green (Daisy and Green's parents) and Mr. Cinis (Red's father). They decided to take out Giovanni and ended up never coming back except when Arcanine hauled them back. Totally my headcanon reason why they're gone in the plot of Red/Green/Blue/LeafGreen/FireRed. I found that I tend to give the parents of most heroes really cool stories/pasts before they settled down and had kids. Might have to write more about that._


End file.
